An offshore worker writes
In today’s energy sector, workers are finding themselves caught in a web of exploitation, as training providers take advantage of a growing demand for certification.
After years of deindustrialisation, the UK does not have the skills to support the industry and build a green economy. Training providers charge scandalous prices for essential courses, pushing workers to shoulder the financial burden of training just to maintain their jobs. T3 Training is the main player, with some courses costing up to £10,000, with no guarantee of a job at the end of it.
Meanwhile, oil companies are undermining qualifications like NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications). Why go to the trouble of employing workers and putting them through NVQs, when the workers can pay for it themselves and then compete with each other in the job market, giving the opportunity for bosses to drive offshore workers’ wages down.
Industries such as oil and gas are highly dangerous, no matter how many incidents get brushed under the carpet. They demand a workforce that is skilled. But do the oil and gas companies really care if you’re skilled, when they look at the balance sheet? No, they care about profit. For skilled workers, this means one thing: a constant driving down of skills.
NVQs are no longer considered a standard of competency in many industries. They are being sidelined in favour of cheaper, faster alternatives that require less training. This allows companies to reduce wage costs and investment in workers. Less skilled workers can be taken on to fill roles that once required highly trained workers with four-year apprenticeships under their belts.
Strong trade unions needed
The strong trade unionism of the past, that insisted on a skilled workforce, has been reduced over the years. It is workers being organised and having control that protects the skills and keeps things safe.
The last time I was on a job offshore, four welders came to the job, all self-employed and 60 years of age, the only ones with NVQs. Sadly those workers are a dying breed. The younger generation are struggling to find good apprenticeships so they are turning to the training providers and paying for the training out of their own pocket.
Workers whose NVQs demonstrate their skills now find themselves competing with a workforce that is, by design, less skilled. Regulatory bodies come up with some nice booklets to explain how that’s a good thing for us. It’s like the government and big oil are working together to deskill historical trades. In the long run, this undermines not only job security but also the quality of work across the sector – and, dare I say it, the safety of oil platforms.
